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Editor’s note: This is the fifth in a series of stories on children that Jackie Hendry, producer and host of South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s “South Dakota Focus” will write for South Dakota News Watch. Each month, she [Read More…]

Authorities in Sioux Falls are investigating the death of a man who had been missing for a day. Relatives found his body in a parking garage stairwell on Sunday, and police are awaiting the coroner’s [Read More…]

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley, Minnehaha County State’s Attorney Daniel Haggar, and Minnehaha County Sheriff Mike Milstead have partnered on a federal grant to combat domestic violence. In October 2023 the State [Read More…]

PIERRE (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight) — A bill to incentivize the sale of more ethanol passed through the state Senate on Tuesday with 33 yes votes and no opposition. The legislation outlines a new tax refund [Read More…]

PIERRE (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight) — Lawmakers narrowly rejected a bill Monday that would have given more low-income students free school meals. The state House Education Committee voted 8-7 to defeat the legislation. “These are South Dakota’s [Read More…]

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — In what’s become an annual winter tradition, hundreds of people carrying torches set fire to a giant wooden beetle effigy in Custer, South Dakota, to raise awareness of the destructive [Read More…]

Three water companies in northern South Dakota, including WEB Water, BDM Rural Water System, and the City of Aberdeen, have entered a memorandum of agreement for the “Water in Northern South Dakota” (WINS) project. The [Read More…]

Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight – Children no longer have to sit in the Sioux Falls Police Department lobby for hours — with nowhere to go and no one to comfort them — after a parent [Read More…]

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has suggested a 4% boost in state aid to education for fiscal year 2025, affecting teacher salaries and various education components in the upcoming 2024-2025 school year. Currently at 7% [Read More…]

A man was discovered unresponsive near New York Street and E. North Street in Rapid City at 7:30 a.m. on Friday. Medical units confirmed his death, and the Rapid City Police Department, in collaboration with [Read More…]

The Rapid City Police Department received reports of credit card skimmers placed at both Walmart stores on January 9. The skimmers, located at checkout lanes, have the potential to capture credit or debit card information. [Read More…]

John Hult, South Dakota Searchlight – You can’t reach Mount Rushmore by passenger rail. Or the Badlands. Or Wall Drug. Or just about anywhere else in South Dakota. It’s one of two states in the [Read More…]

Joshua Haiar, South Dakota Searchlight – A state commission that hears complaints about transparency in government meetings has not met since December 2020, and the attorney general is taking steps to reactivate the group. There [Read More…]

In an email on Friday morning to Great Life members, Wild Oak Golf Course in Mitchell announced that they will open the front 9 in the Spring of 2024. “We want to apologize for all [Read More…]

South Dakota State University officials have announced the closure of the Dairy Research and Training Facility by June due to updated renovation cost estimates exceeding $28 million. The fundraising goal for the renovations was deemed [Read More…]

John Hult, South Dakota Searchlight – A pool of settlement money from Volkswagen has helped add four new fast-charging stations for electric vehicles in South Dakota, with another two under construction. But four promised charging [Read More…]

South Dakota lawmakers are considering House Bill 1014, advocating for the consolidation of aging nursing facilities grappling with mid-century infrastructure and staffing shortages. The bill allows long-term care centers to apply for state assistance and [Read More…]

A South Dakota legislative panel has moved forward with a proposal to join the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact (PSYPACT), aiming to facilitate telehealth mental health services across state lines. The compact allows clients to receive care [Read More…]

Irish Senator Mark Daly, a special guest in the South Dakota Senate, presented the Irish flag to Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden and Speaker of the House Hugh Bartels as part of the American Irish State [Read More…]

Supporters of gymnastics have filed a brief urging the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a South Dakota court order preventing the Sioux Falls School District from eliminating its gymnastics program. The school district [Read More…]